Timeline of Buffalo, New York

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Buffalo, New York, United States.

Prior to 18th century

 * 1620 - Erie Nation occupies area
 * 1651 - Seneca Nation destroys Erie Nation
 * 1679 - La Salle built Fort Conti and launched Le Griffon.
 * 1687 - Marquis de Denonville built Fort Denonville at the mouth of the river.

18th century

 * 1784 - Area known as the Buffalo Creek region.
 * 1793 - Holland Land Purchase is completed

1800s-1860s

 * 1801 - Buffalo is founded by Joseph Ellicott.
 * 1810 - Population: 1,508.
 * 1811 - Buffalo Gazette newspaper begins publication.
 * 1813 - December 30: Battle of Buffalo fought during the War of 1812.
 * 1816 - Village incorporated in Niagara County.
 * 1818 - Walk-in-the-Water Great Lakes passenger steamboat begins operating. It was named after Walk-in-the-Water a Huron chief.
 * 1820 - Population: 2,095.
 * 1821 - Buffalo designated seat of newly created Erie County.
 * 1825 - Erie Canal opens.
 * 1830 - Population: 8,668.
 * 1832
 * City of Buffalo incorporated.
 * Ebenezer Johnson served as the first Mayor.
 * 1833 - Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway established.
 * 1834 - Cholera.
 * 1835 - November 11: "Cyclone" occurs.
 * 1836
 * Young Men's Association active.
 * Buffalo Library (social library) organized.
 * 1840 - Population: 18,213.
 * 1842 - Joseph Dart invented the Dart's Elevator, a steam-powered grain elevator.
 * 1844 - A seiche on Lake Erie sends a 22 ft surge of water onshore, killing 78 people.
 * 1846 - University of Buffalo and its Medical School established.
 * 1847 - Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo established.
 * 1848 - June: 1848 Free Soil Party national convention held in Buffalo; Martin Van Buren nominated as U.S. presidential candidate.
 * 1849 - Forest Lawn Cemetery established.
 * 1850 - Population: 42,261.
 * 1851
 * St. Paul's Cathedral built.
 * Buffalo Seminary founded.
 * 1852 - Metropolitan Theatre is built and opens.
 * 1853 - New York Central Railroad in operation.
 * 1854 - YMCA U.S. branch organized in Buffalo.
 * 1856
 * Chippewa Market opens.
 * Manufacturers and Traders Bank in business.
 * 1858 - Broadway Arsenal opened.
 * 1860 - Population: 81,129.
 * 1861
 * Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences founded.
 * St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute founded.
 * 1862 - Buffalo Historical Society formed.
 * 1863 - St. Joseph Cathedral consecrated.
 * 1868 - Metropolitan Theatre is renovated and re-opens as the Academy of Music

1870s-1890s

 * 1870
 * Richardson Olmsted Complex built.
 * Roman Catholic (Jesuit) Canisius College founded.
 * Population: 117,714.
 * 1871 - Buffalo Normal School founded, became "State Normal and Training School"
 * 1873
 * Church of St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr established.
 * International Railway Bridge to Canada opens.
 * Buffalo Sunday Morning News begins publication.
 * 1874 - "The number of ships built at Buffalo was thirty-seven."
 * 1875
 * County and City Hall constructed.
 * Population: 134,238.
 * 1876
 * Delaware Park–Front Park System developed.
 * Delaware Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church built.
 * 1880 - Population: 155,134.
 * 1881 - Architect Louise Blanchard Bethune in business.
 * 1882 - Grover Cleveland becomes mayor.
 * 1886
 * Westinghouse AC electrical power station begins operating.
 * University of Buffalo School of Pharmacy established.
 * 1887 - University at Buffalo Law School established.
 * 1890 - Population: 255,664.
 * 1892 - University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine established.
 * 1893
 * Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad in operation.
 * Former mayor Grover Cleveland becomes U.S. president.
 * 1894 - Twentieth Century Club founded.
 * 1896 - Ellicott Square Building completed.
 * 1899 - Labor strike of grain workers.
 * 1900
 * Manufacture of Thomas Auto-Bi motorcycle begins.
 * Population: 352,387.

20th century

 * 1901
 * May 1: Pan-American Exposition opens in Delaware Park.
 * September 6: Assassination of William McKinley, U.S. president.
 * September 14: Inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt as U.S. president.
 * September 23–24: Trial of assassin Leon Czolgosz held.
 * 1902 - YMCA Central Building built.
 * 1905 - Albright Art Gallery (of modern art) opens.
 * 1908
 * D'Youville College founded.
 * Hotel Statler in business (first in chain).
 * 1910 - Population: 423,715.
 * 1914 - Art Theater in business.
 * 1917 - December 9: Snowstorm.
 * 1919
 * The new Erie Canal was rebuilt as a barge canal.
 * Rivoli Theatre in business.
 * 1920
 * University at Buffalo raised an endowment of $5m. by popular subscription.
 * Population: 506,775.
 * 1921 - Loew's State Theatre in business.
 * 1922 - WGR radio begins broadcasting.
 * 1923 - On February 24, Phi Omega chapter of the National Omega Psi Phi fraternity was chartered at University of New York at Buffalo as first African American Greek-Lettered Fraternity established in western New York.
 * 1924
 * DuPont cellophane manufactory begins operating.
 * WEBR radio begins broadcasting.
 * 1926
 * Buffalo Courier-Express newspaper in publication (ceased 1982).
 * Buffalo Niagara International Airport, then known as "Buffalo Municipal Airport", opens in nearby Cheektowaga
 * Shea's Performing Arts Center opens.
 * 1927 - Peace Bridge to Canada opens.
 * 1929 - Buffalo Museum of Science and Buffalo Central Terminal open to public.
 * 1932 - Buffalo City Hall built.
 * 1936 - Coin-operated Launder-Ur-Own laundromat in business.
 * 1940 - Buffalo Memorial Auditorium opened
 * 1948 - WBEN-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
 * 1950 - Population: 580,132.
 * 1953 - New zoning laws include parking minimums, these new zoning laws are a factor in the decline of Buffalo over the following decades.
 * 1954 - WGR-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
 * 1960 - Buffalo Bills Football Inaugural Season. Team is second professional team with the name and the third professional football franchise in the city.
 * 1966
 * January: Blizzard.
 * Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site established.
 * 1967 - Race riot occurs in East Buffalo as part of Long, hot summer of 1967
 * 1970
 * Buffalo Sabres Hockey Inaugural Season
 * Buffalo Braves Basketball Inaugural Season. Team plays 8 seasons in Buffalo before relocating to San Diego and later Los Angeles to become the Los Angeles Clippers
 * 1971
 * February 22: Blizzard.
 * Erie Community College Buffalo campus established.
 * 1977 - January: Blizzard of '77.
 * 1979
 * Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park established.
 * Amtrak closes Buffalo Central Terminal, redirecting passenger rail service to the Exchange Street and Depew stations
 * 1984 -
 * Buffalo Metro Rail begins service
 * Republic Steel shutters South Buffalo mill
 * 1988 - Sahlen Field (then known as "Pilot Field") opens, replacing War Memorial Stadium
 * 1989 - Western New York Documentary Heritage Program headquartered in Buffalo.
 * 1990 - Population: 328,123.
 * 1996
 * KeyBank Center (then named Marine Midland Center) opens, replacing the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
 * City website online (approximate date).

21st century

 * 2000 - Population: 292,648
 * 2001
 * Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus established
 * December: Snowstorm.
 * 2005
 * Byron Brown becomes mayor.
 * Brian Higgins becomes U.S. representative for New York's 27th congressional district.
 * 2006 - October 13: Lake Storm "Aphid"
 * 2008 - Canalside, then named Erie Canal Harbor, reopens to public after early phase of redevelopment work.
 * 2010 - Population: 261,310.
 * 2014 - November 17–20: "Snowvember" snowstorm.
 * 2017
 * Minimum parking requirements were eliminated citywide in order to revitalize the city after decades of decline.
 * Tesla, Inc. opens Giga New York solar panel factory on old Republic Steel site
 * 2020
 * Population: 278,349, Buffalo finally gains population again after 70 years.
 * Buffalo police shoving incident occurs as part of George Floyd protests
 * 2022
 * May 14: The deadliest shooting in the city's 221-year history occurs. 13 people are shot, and 10 of them die.
 * December 23 - 27: A snowstorm kills 41 people, becoming the deadliest snowstorm in the city's history.
 * 2023
 * Mayor Byron Brown begins his 5th term, becoming the longest-serving mayor of Buffalo.
 * A magnitude 3.8 earthquake affects the Buffalo area in February.